Corey Brubaker, Lincoln (SWCS member since 1983), has served on the board of directors of the Nebraska Chapter in various capacities since being elected as a director in 1999. He served as president in 1999-2000 and has been serving as treasurer since 2017. As chapter treasurer, Corey is responsible for planning the annual golf tournament to raise funds for scholarships awarded by the chapter and the Nebraska Soil and Water Conservation Foundation. Corey was instrumental in planning the annual Chapter meeting in 2001, 2007, 2013 and 2023, and helped plan the 2002 North Central Regional Workshop entitled “Excellence in Conservation Planning”. Corey is recognized for his knowledge of conservation practices to control soil erosion, protect water quality, and improve soil health. He has made numerous presentations at meetings and conferences across Nebraska both as a member of the SWCS and in his professional role as the state conservation agronomist for Nebraska Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

WIN Conservationist of the Year Award

Presented by the National Organization of Professional Women in NRCS (WIN), this is given in recognition of a non-WIN member and outstanding woman farmer, producer or conservationist who demonstrates a vital role in supporting women in agriculture and conservation, and has shown conservation ethics and practices in a woman-owned business.

Nancy Fisher, Crawford, is a great supporter of protecting Nebraska’s valuable rangeland and wildlife habitat on her own and surrounding land in the Pine Ridge region. She’s been an active advocate of conservation in the local community and across the state, serving as a board member on the Upper Niobrara White NRD.

Bijesh Maharjan, Scottsbluff (2018), is an associate professor of soil science and agronomy at the University of Nebraska Panhandle Research and Extension Center in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. He received his undergraduate degree from Moscow State University, a master’s in environmental engineering from the University of North Dakota, and Ph.D. in soil science from the University of Minnesota. He leads research and extension programs focused on soil and water conservation, soil productivity, and precision nutrient management in irrigated, limited-irrigation, and dryland crop and forage production systems in the Nebraska Panhandle. He is an associate editor of the Journal of Environmental Quality and Agronomy Journal. He is a member of the American Society of Agronomy, the Soil Science Society of America, the Crop Science Society of America, the International Society of Precision Agriculture, the American Geophysical Union, the International Union of Soil Sciences, and SWCS. Maharjan authored/co-authored over 50 peer-reviewed scientific articles. Recently, his team coined and proposed two impactful concepts — Soil Health Gap and Soil Health Cycle — to promote science-based soil conservation and overall soil health management.

Galen Wittrock, Lodgepole (2000), received his bachelor’s in biology from Bethany College, Lindsborg, Kansas, before pursuing interests in conservation. He is the general manager of the South Platte NRD. He has spent 34 years with the NRD; the first 31 years as assistant manager. He has worked with many conservation projects in the southern Nebraska Panhandle during this time. He was involved in planning numerous windbreaks in the NRD — many of which he helped plant — amounting to thousands of trees across the district, by sitting on the tree planter. He planned and created many wildlife plantings. Galen works cooperatively with other conservation agencies such as the NRCS, UNL Extension, Nebraska Game and Parks, Nebraska Department of Natural Resources, and Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy to conserve natural resources. He has addressed many sediment and erosion issues through the Sediment and Erosion Control Act and was involved with water quality and quantity issues and policies to conserve this valuable resource. When time allows, he enjoys working on his farm and continues to experiment with various tree selections concentrating on hybrid oaks for western Nebraska.

Mark Watson, Alliance. Mark’s first exposure to conservation agriculture began early in his farming career watching his father work with UNL researcher Dr. Charlie Finster. They were working on improving stubble mulching practices in a winter wheat-summer fallow rotation. From family photos, Mark’s grandfather is pictured in a field of rye and hairy vetch — the farm’s first cover crop — although soil health likely wasn’t on his radar. After graduating from UNL with a degree in agronomy, Mark returned home to the farm, which has been in the family since 1891. Working with his brothers, they began their path towards no-till crop production in the late 1980s after a tour of Dakota Lakes Research Farm with Dr. Dwayne Beck, who explained the concepts of no-till production practices, cropping sequences and their effects on your soil, the improved use of the resources at hand with continuous cropping rotations, utilizing all the rainfall received on your farm, and putting all your land to work every year. Mark and his brothers put together their own crop rotation of winter wheat, corn and yellow field peas and/or chickpeas on their dryland acres. They have mostly followed this rotation ever since. The system worked so well that by 1994, they had their irrigated acres in no-till as well, with a winter wheat, corn, dry edible bean rotation. With their rotation of corn, yellow field peas, winter wheat followed by the rye cover crop, edible beans and the use of soil water monitoring equipment, they have lowered the annual irrigation pumping to 6.5 inches per year on heavier silt clay loam soils and 8.5 inches per year in fine sand soils. Mark began work as a no-till educational instructor in the early 2000s. He began doing no-till educational conferences around the state, as well as the region. He helped form the Panhandle No-Till Association, which held educational field days along with the annual winter conference. For numerous years, he wrote weekly articles on no-till crop production practices, which were distributed across the state for publication, appeared in numerous agricultural magazines, and widely distributed electronically.

North Platte Natural Resources District, Scottsbluff. Established in 1972, Nebraska’s natural resources districts (NRDs) take their boundaries from the major river basins and are governed by locally elected boards of directors, enabling them to respond to local needs. NRDs build partnerships with other agencies and organizations, including the USDA NRCS, the Nebraska Natural Resources Commission, other state and federal agencies, municipalities, counties and private organizations. The North Platte NRD has many different programs to help the residents become better stewards of our natural resources. Ranging from conservation tree planting and cost-share on livestock watering systems to flow meters and education outreach, NRD programs are open to anyone living in the district. The NRD sells trees for conservation purposes, such as erosion control, windbreaks, and wildlife habitat. Over seven million trees have been planted in this district. The NRD provides conservation cost-share programs that provide financial incentives to landowners to protect soil, water and other resources. The North Platte NRD has had a part in developing several projects in the basin, including prevention of damages from flood water and sediment, drainage improvement, channel rectification. The NRD built the Greener Gardens Greenhouse as an outdoor educational facility, including a geothermal greenhouse, 70 plots of native and introduced grasses, a learning/classroom area, tree identification plantings, and a perimeter of pollinators. Over 4,600 pounds of vegetables have been donated to local food pantries. Plants and seeds have also been donated to various groups to help promote learning.